


One telephone call away

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Phone Calls & Telephones, Serious Injuries, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 15:03:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9390191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: The operation was supposed to go without a hitch. Peter would make the deal, say the take down phrase, piece of cake, right? Then Neal gets a nightly phone call from Peter. This fic is dated pre-series.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Runthecon for the prompt “The best laid plans” given to me by birthday girl Kanarek13 \o/. I tag cookielaura with the prompt “Crystal Clear”.
> 
> The full phrase is "the best laid plans o' mice an' men gang aft agley"
> 
> This was written by an ancient Scots Poet, Robert Burns.  
> "Gang aft agley" means "often get fucked up"
> 
> "best laid plans" is an acknowledgement that something has just got fucked up for no apparent reason, or because something inevitable (government, parents, teenage kid, fate, whatever) has acted against it.

When the telephone rings, Neal startles awake and groans, he feels for it without opening his eyes.

“Mozz! It is two a.m. I need some sleep if you want me…”

“ _Neal_?” an unsteady voice asks.

Neal is instantly wide awake. He knows this voice, but has never heard it so insecure, vulnerable.

“Agent Burke?”

“ _Neal?”_

“Yes Peter, I am here. Are you hurt?”

“ _I… think so…”_

Neal steadies himself. Now is not the moment to wonder how FBI agent Peter Burke got his number. The slur in the agent´s voice is disconcerting. Peter is always so collected and in charge. It worries Neal. Something must have happened.

“Peter, where are you?”

“ _I…_ “

Neal waits for the continuation of the sentence, but nothing happens.

“Hey Peter, come on, stay with me. I need to know where you are.”

“ _I don´t know.”_

“What happened?”

While he waits again for an answer, he calls Mozzie on the landline. He holds the cell with Peter against his other ear.

“Mozzie, can you trace the call I have on my cell phone?”

_“What did you get into now?”_

Mozzie sounds wide awake, must have been busy plotting something. Neal has stopped wondering what Mozzie does at night, a long time ago.

“Nothing Mozz, I wouldn´t ask you in the middle of the night if it wasn´t urgent.”

“ _OK, OK, let me get my stuff, keep them talking.”_

“Peter?”

(…)

“PETER! Answer me!”

“PETER!”

“ _Neal?”_

Peter really doesn´t sound good.

“Peter, I need you to stay awake, OK? I am tracking you, but keep talking to me, Do you understand?”

“ _OK_.”

“Where are you hurt?”

“ _There is a lot of blood_.”

“Were you shot? Can you press down on the wound?”

Neal can hear a gasp, probably Peter pressing down on the wound.

“ _Are you coming_?”

The question sounds so childlike and nothing like the FBI-agent who is hunting down Neal.

“Peter, I can´t. But I will get you help. Keep talking.”

It takes some time before Peter talks again and Neal is just about to call out again when Peter seems to have connected the dots.

“ _You are not in the States_.” It is not a question, but a statement.

“No, I am not. That is why I can´t come to you, but it is a good thing that you called me.”

“ _I don´t feel well. I…”_

There is a groan a retching sound.

“Peter? PETER!”

“Mozzie, I need that trace now!”

“ _Wait a second, yep, it is coming from the corner of_ …”

“Just send 911 to the address. Tell them an FBI-agent is shot.”

“ _It´s the nanny-goat_?”

“YES, Mozz, it's Peter, now call already.”

“Yeah, yeah _, on it_.”

“Peter! Come on, talk to me.”

“ _Neal? What happened_?”

“I guess you passed out on me. Don´t ever do that to me again, OK?”

“ _You think there is going to be a next time?”_

“I know you won´t stop chasing me, so yeah, I guess there will be a next time.”

“ _Yeah.”_

Neal keeps talking to Peter, reassuring him everything will be OK and that help is on the way. He can hear sirens in the background. When he hears voices, he sighs in relief

“Peter, I guess help has arrived, can you confirm there are EMT´s with you?”

 _“Yes. They are here_.”

Neal can hear two male voices in the background. He sighs in relief.

“OK, Peter, well, I guess all I can say is see you next time. Get better.” Neal doesn´t wait for a response, but disconnects the line. He lies back on his bed, but sleep is far away while he reminisces over what just happened.

 

 


End file.
